It has been nearly 20 years since the University of Cincinnati football program has sunk to such lows.

With a national TV audience watching on ESPN2, UC continued its steady plunge to the lower regions of college football by losing 35-24 to Temple on Friday night. The announced attendance was a home season-low 22,773 on a freezing night at Nippert Stadium.

UC (3-7, 1-5 American Athletic Conference East) is now assured its first back-to-back losing seasons in nearly 20 years. The Bearcats went 4-8 last year in the final year of the Tommy Tuberville regime, with Luke Fickell taking charge this season.

UC had not had two consecutive losing seasons since 1998 (2-9 record) and 1999 (3-8), under coach Rick Minter.

Fickell was hurting in his postgame press conference, with UC failing to build on last week's 17-16 win at Tulane.

"Very, very disappointed," Fickell said. "Very disappointed in the way we handled this whole situation and completed this game. And for the first time, I think I told the guys that."

UC continued to play sloppy football, committing 11 penalties after committing 12 last week.

"Disappointed in the way we coached, disappointed in the way we prepared them," Fickell said. "To not be able to put things together from working as hard as we do, I'm a little bit lost for words."

Other mistakes included the allowance of a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, a low snap and subsequent bobble on an attempted punt, and a lost fumble.

"At some point in time we've got to find a way," Fickell said. "We keep talking about penalties. We keep talking about these situations and the things we've got to do better, and yet we go out and continue to do the same things over and over again."

Temple improved to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the AAC East.

The Bearcats had needed to finish 3-0 to assure bowl eligibility, with games against East Carolina (2-7, 1-4 AAC East) and UConn (3-6, 2-4) in their final two weeks. Instead, the best UC can hope for is 5-7 in the regular season.

A bowl game still might be a slim possibility, as some 5-7 teams have made bowls in recent years. UC was not thinking much about that Friday night.

"Any loss you take is disappointing," senior linebacker Jaylyin Minor. "We didn't execute as we should have, as players. That's on us. We can't blame the coaches or anything like that."

Some quick analysis:

Fighting uphill

Temple took a 3-0 lead with 33 seconds left in the first quarter, on a 27-yard field goal by Aaron Boumerhi.

UC quarterback Hayden Moore fumbled the ball on UC's next drive, on a running play. Temple recovered at the UC 25-yard line.

The Bearcats also hurt themselves with nine penalties in the first half alone. Coming off a 12-penalty game at Tulane, UC obviously had not cured that ill.

The most egregious call(s) involved a targeting call and then an unsportsmanlike conduct call on UC defensive back Chris Murphy. The targeting call was overturned but the unsportsmanlike call -- which came when Murphy objected to the original targeting flag -- would not have happened had Murphy not been called for targeting.

Such was the Bearcats' night, which also included a penalty for having too many men on the field.

Temple built its lead to 6-0 on a short field, goal, then a 1-yard TD rush by running back David Hood sent the Owls ahead 13-0 with 6:39 left in the first half.

Could have, should have

Bearcats freshman cornerback Marquese Taylor, making his first start, intercepted Temple quarterback Frank Nutile on the game's first drive. UC failed to take advantage, and wound up punting the ball back.

Later in the first quarter, UC's Devin Gray returned a punt 76 yards for an apparent touchdown. But, the score was nullified by an illegal block.

It would have been the Bearcats' first punt return for a touchdown since 2009, when Mardy Gilyard scored on a 53-yarder in a 70-3 rout of Southeast Missouri State.

The closest UC came to scoring before halftime was on the final play of the half, when Ryan Jones missed a 46-yard field goal attempt.

One-sided affair, early on

Temple held a 230-142 edge in total offense in the first half, and it was remarkable that it was that close. Entering the final minutes of the half, UC had posted only 61 total yards but 87 penalty yards.

UC's Moore was 7-for-12 passing in the first half, for only 43 yards. The Bearcats did not have a catch by a wide receiver until late in the first half, when Kahlil Lewis and Gray each snagged one pass.

Moore wound up going 20-for-36 for 217 yards passing, with two TDs. He also was UC's top rusher with 75 yards.

Senior running back MIke Boone rushed for 59 yards and a TD, and he also caught a TD pass.

Where was Doaks?

UC redshirt freshman running back Gerrid Doaks rushed for a career-high 149 yards last week, but he was limited to four carries for 13 yards Friday.

Doaks did not play much after being "dinged up" relatively early in the game, Fickell said. Fickell did not specify Doaks' injury.

Staying alive, somewhat

With Temple up 13-0 and the UC offense doing little, the Bearcats gambled and finally hit the scoreboard in the third quarter.

On 4th-and-6 at the Temple 29-yard line, Moore dropped back and hit Thomas Geddis for a touchdown pass. Geddis, running to the left flag, caught the ball in the end zone behind a Temple defender. Jones' PAT kick brought UC within 13-7, with 11:37 left in the third period.

Temple took just 1:39 to answer, with Nutile hitting wide receiver Keith Kirkwood for a 34-yard TD pass. That put Temple up 20-7.

The Bearcats marched right down and cut the Temple lead to 20-14, with a 21-yard TD run by Boone. It was macho, vintage Boone, who powered his way downfield and fought through would-be tacklers to score. At that point, 7:40 remained in the third quarter.

Things were going well again, until Temple's Isaiah Wright raced 98 yards and scored on the ensuing kickoff. Temple then hit a 2-point conversion pass for a 28-14 lead.

The Bearcats cut the Temple edge to 28-17 with 14:56 left in the game, on a 26-yard field goal by Jones.

The Owls essentially ended it on a 3-yard run by QB Nutile with 11:03 left, on which Nutile faked out the UC defense (and most of the few remaining spectators). That made the score 35-17.

UC was on life support but not finished. The Bearcats trimmed the Temple lead to 35-24 on a 3-yard TD pass from Moore to Boone, as the latter lunged across the goal line with one arm outstreched. At that point, 2:34 remained. But that would be it.

"We have two more games," Boone said. "Just come out with a great attitude and get back to work, everybody just not hang their heads. Just come out and play."

Cold one

The temperature was 30 degrees at kickoff, with most seats empty. There was no precipitation, perhaps the only thing to recommend sitting for nearly four hours in sub-freezing conditions.

After halftime, the stands emptied out even more. That is fairly standard practice when a team is trailing at the break, but the weather also did the fans no favors.